Section 107 Planning

"Well, anyway, what do you think about the current situation, please feel free to say. ”

"Lord Duke," Esin said suddenly. All the attendees focused their eyes on him, and many showed obvious displeasure - for them, the fact that an attendee at the end of the table was the first to speak was in itself a manifestation of Meng Lang.

However, the Duke of Byron did not have a special expression, he bowed his head slightly, and motioned for Essien to continue.

"If anything else, I may not be too experienced to boast, but I had been a colleague of the 'one-man council' for a while, and the others couldn't help but laugh when Essien said it, so I knew a little bit about that man. I think you might find something a little strange...... Our little queen is naturally still young, and it is possible to do anything inexplicable. But the man named Ashrufat was not a stupid man. We already know that first of all, he is a good swordsman, secondly, he is a magician, and at the last of all, he is still a rich man. How could such a man be a fool? Why would he accept such a ridiculous appointment? Even if he was carried away by the lust for power, he would not be arrogant enough to think that he could do all the work alone. Not to mention the rest, just the work pressure that comes with these positions...... Unless he doesn't need to eat, excrete, or especially sleep, it's absolutely impossible for him to do so much work alone. There must be something wrong with such an obvious contradiction!"

"This appointment will not last long. Someone said. "There is no shortage of candidates suitable for these positions in Eagle Falcon City, and it is easy to find someone who is at least improvised...... As long as you get the help of those who are willing and prepared, a month ...... It will take a maximum of two months to fill the official vacancies and separate these 'part-time' jobs. Then again, this was originally an expedient measure for the Duke to stall for time. As for the Ashrufat," the man who spoke smiled, "it's just a guy from the country. This kind of person, if you want to talk about reckless adventurous spirit, it may not be lacking, but what threat can he have?"

"He used to be a mercenary. Essien said. "Mercenaries are in the business...... If it weren't for the scars on his body, he quit after he was too old...... But those who can retreat bravely from the rapids are probably not ordinary people. ”

No one understands this better than he does. In fact, although mercenary is a high-income, high-risk profession, to be honest, it is difficult to leave this profession after working for a long time. It is a profession that can be escaped, indulged and degraded. In addition, in the mercenary profession, a good warrior is always easy to gain a respected position, and if you have talent, you can quickly rise through the ranks - as long as you can attract a group of people to follow you, you can easily become a captain. This is actually a kind of anesthetic, and he uses short-term success to cover up the long-term lack of future. Usually the mercenary ends up with three outcomes, one is death, and the other is crippled or decrepit, and he spends the rest of his life in a poor country with a body of pain. There is a third outcome, which is to retreat bravely in the rapids when the wind is in its prime. It was not an easy decision to make, as Essien himself, after leaving the profession, he was reduced to going to the gladiatorial arena for the kind of bloody shows.

And that Ashrufat......

That sounds like boasting. Someone said with bad intentions.

"Enough," Duke Byron said before Essien could retort. "I know you're cautious, but you may be too cautious in this matter. That Ashrufat is just a rich man, he has no connections and no foundation, what can he do? As for Eagle City...... Among other things, it's a miracle that they have the ability to solve the debt problem. The key issue now is the Rafa ......"

Essien closed his mouth and glanced back at Cleo. Cleo shook his head at him slightly.

"There's no movement on Rafa's side. Someone followed Byron's advice. The one who spoke was in the chief position on Byron's side. Although Essien had never met the other man, the man was so similar to Byron that even a fool could tell that he was the eldest son of Duke Byron. "It's unconscionable. ”

"Yes, what is this for?"

"Is there any movement among the barbarians of the White Castle?" someone asked.

"No, we have eyeliner over there...... Lately, the White Castle has been quiet. ”

There was a lot of talk, and almost no one noticed Essien sighing and leaning hard against the back of his chair.

"Essien, do you think they can solve the financial problems?" asked Creo, who was beside Essien, puzzled.

"Nope. Essien replied. Having said that, when it comes to embezzling public funds for personal gain, probably no one can do it more thoroughly than Duke Byron. Now Essien knew that during his years in power, he had made so much money from the treasury that he had quietly formed a new army of thirty men in his own territory, the city of Fornoros. This army is well-equipped and well-trained, and as long as it has a little actual combat training, it deserves to be called an elite soldier. You can guess how much it costs...... His unscrupulous embezzlement, the mess he left behind...... It's just horrible.

Of course, this was not originally intended to be used against the little queen, but against Rafa. It's just that the plan hasn't changed fast.

"So what's there to worry about?" asked Cleo.

"I have a ...... Strong intuition. Essien replied. "I'm worried...... Ashrufat may not play according to the rules we are ready to play. ”

"Not in accordance with the rules?, he just declared all arrears invalid?" Cleo was a little curious. Indeed, the little queen (or Ashrufat) could do this, but in doing so, he would be ruining his own credit. Not to mention anything else, from today onwards, what guy who is not long-sighted will lend him money? Besides, those regional chambers of commerce that are not strong are not enough, and those multinational chambers of commerce are not easy to provoke. This kind of thing is not uncommon, and the Chamber of Commerce will inevitably take retaliatory measures - in this regard, these businessmen who usually fight each other seem to easily unite to form an invisible but tight commercial blockade. This is no joke. For at least the past decade or so, none of the lords who have tried to repay their debts have been able to hold on - the tentacles of commerce have long since unwittingly reached all aspects of society, and once these forces are withdrawn, they can cause great harm.

In the case of Eagle City, the merchants didn't even have to use any other means, and the use of commercial blockade could directly make Eagle City fall into trouble and turn it into a dead city.

"Not really," Esin tried to describe, but found it difficult to express. "It's like saying...... Ashrufat may resort to means beyond our imagination. ”

"You're saying it's possible for him to make a deferred payment agreement with those guys at the Chamber of Commerce?" Clio replied. "You can even borrow a large sum of money to pay for the military? Let's be honest...... It's too difficult. You might as well tell me directly, tomorrow all the gold in the world will turn to dirt. ”

Essien did not answer. His intellect told him that powerful logic was on Clio's side. And he really couldn't think of what else Ashrufat could do in such a situation.

At this time, the discussion on General Rafah had reached a climax at the meeting, and it had been proposed that an envoy be sent to the north to liaise and negotiate with Rafah. Anyway, now that everything has been put on the table, sending an envoy is no longer a "show of weakness".

Of course, Byron killed a large number of Rafah's allies and supporters during the coup d'état in Eagle City, and he really didn't have the face to negotiate with Rafah. But at this time and that time, it is necessary to get in touch. As to whether Rafa would hang the messenger at once—that was not something for the Duke of Byron to consider.

"Ashrufat......" Essien muttered in a voice that could only be heard by himself. I don't know why, he suddenly remembered the bold declaration of Ashrufat when the swords and soldiers in the palace were fighting.

"Garunas, how can he be compared to me? My name is Ashrufat, and I am omnipotent!"

......

"Ashrufat, it's a pleasure to meet you. Ah Jin looked enthusiastic. The face of this honest businessman is like that of a man who is completely happy. Ashrufat knew the source of this happiness for Akin: he already knew that Akin's business was going well, even better than anyone expected.

They are now in a mansion in the aristocratic district. Specifically, they were in the former Duke Byron's mansion. Although this mansion is not as large as the royal palace in terms of size, it has merit in terms of internal structure. So Ashrufat simply persuaded the little girl to close the palace and live here instead. Unlike the royal palace, this mansion is actually more simple in structure, and if you leave aside the garden lawn, it requires very little manual cleaning and maintenance.

"I'm glad to see you again. Ashrufat said. The two of them were seated separately.

In a sense, Akin was the kind of man who was full of courage, at least he didn't show any trepidation at the time of Ashrufat, who was nominally in power at this time. Or rather, the greed in his heart has surpassed his fear. Having a friend like Ashrufat would be of great help to his business.

"Ashrufat, I heard that you are now soaring?"

"Ah, I should say we're in deep trouble. Ashrufat sighed. "Ah Jin, where are you here?"

"Business is better than I ever imagined. Ah Jin's eyebrows fluttered and replied. "Ashrufat, two years, only two years at most, we can generate dividends. Hey, you're willing to put your shares up for auction......" He noticed Eshurufat's expression, "What's the matter, Ashrufat, what do you look like...... It seems to ......"

"Ah Jin, I know that you are very familiar in the business field. Ashrufat asked. "I hope you can help. ”

"Of course, good friends get a 20% discount for a lifetime. Ah Jin replied immediately. "If you want to borrow money, I can introduce you to the one with the lowest interest rate. ”

"We'll wait a minute...... Ah Jin, do you remember the deal you told me about in the past......?

"Ah, of course I do. Ashrufat, you didn't suddenly think of making that deal, did you?" "Let's be honest, if you have more money to spare, you might as well invest it in me. I promise you won't lose. ”

"This ...... That's not what it means...... Anyway, I remember you said that trade with the elves is almost always monopolized by the Turanians...... The Turanian people made their fortunes, and the others had to ...... Eat some leftovers. ”

"That's true. Ah Jin replied. "It's unfortunate, isn't it? because of racial prejudice...... Both humans and elves have lost more opportunities to make a fortune...... Eshurufat, although your name is Eshurufat, it is a pity that you are only a human being, not an elven prince. ”

"What if...... I'm just saying what if...... If the elven prince with my name issued a license to do business...... And if you give this license to a human merchant, what will happen? Will that merchant get rich?"